dismantling gear-knob?

I ordered what I thought was a blue leather SE gear knob and leather gaiter. I'm then informed (when it had arrived), that it was only the knob! I already have the gaiter, attached to the redundant "sports" knob. I just can't figure out how to free-off the black collar holding the gaiter in place against the knob? Here's a couple of photos :-







I have also realised that the black attachment collar is of a different design for the SE knob as against the "sports", ball-type knob ....Luckily, I have a spare of both types of collar.
Obviously they do seperate, because they can be ordered as individual parts, but how?

David

Hi David,

It should just pull off ?. Try giving it a soak in warm soapy water - it may help. I thought the gaitor and knob were separate items with the differing part numbers but the new blue leather knob looks good !. All these small parts are very cheap and still available to buy through your local Audi parts dept so don,t be afraid of breaking anything.

Ta
Dave


Ive just had a look at a spare sports knob that i have. The black collar twists around until the white lug becomes visible in the gap then it just pulls off.

Thanks, Dave ... There's no way that the knob is ever going to pull-off (IMHO) Even having the separate components to examine doesn't really help. I might destroy an old knob to see how things work. I bet that it's going to be one of those things that are so very obvious when figured out! I am quite frustrated with it, at the moment! There is a lip at the base of the gear-knob. The black, wide locating collar is retained by this lip. Clearance is minimal. How that is free'd off is the big question?

David

Simple jobs can sometimes be very frustrating. Ive just had another look at my original SE gear knob and you are right. It is a similar "system" to the sports knob but a differently designed collar. Ive just twisted the SE collar around and there is a gap which lines up again with a black lug. Once its lined up it should just pull off but it doesn,t - well stuck as you have found.

I don,t want to break mine, because its the original from my car, but if i did i would get a pair of long nose pliers on the black plastic collar and pull hard on the gear knob from the other end - it may work ?.

Ta
Dave

This is the collar, removed by destroying a defunct early knob from my stock.

Its part number is 8Z0 711 184

These are my findings :-
I would say that it is impossible to remove the collar. The inside of the collar tapers gradually so that when it is pushed onto the gear-knob it proves a tight fit around the full circumference of a recessed ring sitting just above that taper. Some force would be required to fit the collar.I feel that you would need to purchase a new collar ready for the fitting of any replacement knob. To remove the knob, it is necessary to carefully cut vertically down through the collar with a cutting disc/ "Dremmel" tool. It will open and allow easy removal.
I suggest that to refit the newly-purchased collar, it should be pre-heated in boiling water. At the same time, the gear-knob should have been cooled in a freezer. Well, that's what I'm going to do, unless someone from that Wealth of Knowledge that is called the A2OC advise otherwise! This is something else that I've added to my knowledge-base!

David

O.K., I've completed this work. I didn't need to pre-heat the knob, etc. I just needed a fair push and it clicked-on. The leather gaiter is universal. The part no. for the collar that is needed for the "sports" knob is 8Z0 711 184A. Cutting the collar top to bottom with the "Dremmel" disc worked out perfectly. I hope that this of use to other A2OC members, in the future ...

David

Hi guys,

Thanks for the info, I have added this to the "How To" Index

Steve B